


Praxis' and Kora's Blade Matchmaking Business

by BlankSlateStadium



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: All the rare blades, Angst, Bad Matchmaking, Because these guys all deserved more development, Expect the main ones, F/F, F/M, Kora too, Love Letters, M/M, Matchmaking, Praxis has bad ideas, Romance, Theory is the only one with common sense, but its mostly theory/praxis, might add the dlc blades at some point, not gonna tag the other ships in this fic because its kind of spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-04-22 14:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14310762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlankSlateStadium/pseuds/BlankSlateStadium
Summary: After a love letter surfaces in Garfont, Praxis and Kora decide to work together to find out who sent the letter in hopes of helping romance blossom and maybe in the process they might be able to help some other lonely blades around the merc group.





	1. The Letter

Garfont, despite what people who know of its purpose tend to think, is not always eventful despite their increased notoriety in Alrest. Wake-up. Eat. Train. If you’re lucky you can get sent on a mission. If not your train more. Eat again. Sleep. Rinse and repeat. With Rex and the others constantly moving around, the only hope they had was that their driver would come to pick them up for some quest or adventure.

Praxis sighed, resting her head on her palms, sitting at one of the tables outside the sleeping quarters. Theory looked up at Praxis and tilted her head “It is odd to see you look so down. Are you annoyed that you were sent here to help with mercenary duties?” The ice blade closed over the book she was reading when Praxis’ only response was to let her head fall onto the table, accompanied with a small “ow”. Theory frowned “If you want, we could go wander about. There are plenty of interesting places in Uraya.”

“Come on, Theory! You suggest that all the time! We’ve probably seen more of Uraya than the average Urayan has!” Praxis said sitting up. “I just want to do something fun! Pyra, and Pandoria, and Dromarch and Brighid and Poppi always travel with the others! They have other blades! Why can’t we all travel together?!”

“Other than the fact that all hell would break loose? Drivers only ever tend to travel with 3 blades. Naturally some of us have to stay behind. It’s just how it is…I mean…you and I aren’t the only blades that would rather be with the group. Godfrey, whilst he does enjoy spreading his sense of justice, he would rather be with Rex and Nia.”

“Geez…I feel like I’m arguing with Adenine all of a sudden.” Praxis didn’t like how Theory was right. The big personalities would clash too much among the group. Once Praxis had to go on a mission with Godfrey, Dagas, and Zenobia and she almost considered the possibility of letting those rampaging Volff smash her core crystal.

“We’ll have our chance. You need to be patient.” Theory concluded, picking her book back up, frowning. “…I forgot where I was…”

Praxis smiled a little. Her counterpart (as people had known them to be) had managed to warm up a lot recently. It was good to see her seem a little more alive. Praxis looked over at the training ground where Aegaeon and Perceval were training together. Perceval was weird in that he would only ever train with other sword users, Aegaeon tended to be the one he ended up sparring with. Perun was there too as a spectator. Again, not an unusual site. Praxis’ eye drifted over slightly, her gaze catching Godfrey sitting on a crate holding a letter and talking to…Kora?

“Okay, that’s definitely weird.” Praxis said causing Theory to follow her gaze. “What are they doing…?”

Theory shook her head. “Don’t involve yourself with other people’s business Prax-“Theory turned back to see Praxis making her way to hide behind one of the nearby tents. “Wh…?! Praxis, I swear…” She rubbed her forehead in frustration and followed her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m listening in, duh.” Praxis whispered. “Now shhh! I wanna know what’s going on…” Even when they weren’t talking, there wasn’t much they could make out. If they tried to get any closer then Godfrey would probably realise they were there. Eventually they only saw Godfrey walking away, murmuring to himself, which was odd in itself considering everyone knew Godfrey to be the loud one of the group.

“C’mon!”

“Wh- Praxis!” Theory chased Praxis when the water blade darted around the tent and landed in front of Kora.

“Whoa, Praxis!” Kora jumped back. “Geez! You, like, could have given me a heart attack! What are you doing?!” Her eyes quickly widened. “Wait, were you and Theory listening in?! Ugh, totally uncool. I’m really shocked by you, Theory.”

“Why am I the one getting scolded…?”

“We couldn’t actually hear anything. We wanted to know what you and Godfrey were talking about!” Praxis explained.

“Correction; Praxis wanted to know. I got dragged into it.” Theory clarified. Kora knitted her eyebrows before relaxing and smiling at them.

“It was kind of cool actually, if you really wanna know. Godfrey went to get some rest because he had been on gate duty, like, all night. I totally couldn’t handle a shift like that, I need my beauty rest. Well, anyway, when he woke up there was a letter next to the bed, but not just any letter,” Kora leaned in a whispered excitedly “A love letter”.

“A love letter? For Godfrey of all people?”

“Hey now, don’t be a meanie Theory.” Kora tutted before looking back at Praxis with a huge smile. “I mean, he isn’t my type. Too loud, y’know? I don’t mean that in a rude way. I like a guy who’s more reserved, but clearly someone clearly has the hots for the guy. Who do you think it is? I doubt it would be Perun. The different justice thing would, I.M.O.P., make them incompatible. And it won’t be, like, Vale or Vess. I don’t think they’re the love letter type.”

“Definitely not Sheba or Azami. Zenobia maybe? Or Nim?” Praxis said. Theory folded her arms across her chest.

“Well…why would it have to be a girl? One of the guys could have written it, right?” Kora and Praxis turned to Theory with almost dumbfounded expressions. “…did you two really not consider one of the guys might like guys?”

“Ah, geez Theory, you’re right! It could be Floren. Or maybe Aegaeon, he seems like the type to write a letter about his feelings.” Praxis seemed to get more excited the more she spoke about. “Oh man, what if it’s someone totally unexpected? Like Dahlia, or Dagas?! Or maybe Perceval! Oh man, now I really wanna know who it was!”

“Never realised you were so obsessed with romance, Praxis. I guess you do have some feminine qualities. Never would have guessed after seeing how cluttered your room is. I’ll need to tell Mythra that you have more girl power than we gave you credit for.” Kora put her hands on her hips. “Man, know you’re getting me worked up about wanting to know too. There are so many potential candidates to be Godfrey’s secret admirer. Who knows, maybe if we find Godfrey’s one true love then we might get more love confessions.”

“Y…you two aren’t going to try and play matchmaker, are you?” Theory said with dread in her voice.

“Oh my god, we totally could!” Praxis lit up and took Kora’s hands. “Kora, come on! We could totally get some people together if we worked together! A little bit of romance might be exactly what this place needs to help it stop being so boring all the time!”

“You know what? You’re so right. A little bit of shipping never hurt anyone. We might need to go over ground rules though. Like, for example, we need to keep Electra and Ursula out of it. They’re kids, y’know? Trying to set them up would be, like, super-duper weird. And we can’t make a rumour like ‘hey this guy likes you. You two should go out’. We can’t ruin relationships. Romance is good, and drama is great, but I don’t wanna be the one to ruin friendships.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Praxis turned to Theory. “Thanks so much for the idea, Theory!”

“No. Don’t credit for this. I don’t want to be blamed when it blows up in your face.” Theory shook her head and sighed. “…however, I know you won’t stop now. Just be careful with people’s feelings.” Theory then turned and headed back to the table where her book still sat.

“She’s right. We gotta be real stealthy with how we approach this, okay? Pinky promise me you and I will be careful.” Kora held out her hand, pinky extended. Praxis smiled and wrapped her own pinky around Kora’s.

“Deal!”

Over at the table, Adenine came over with Herald and sat at the table (well, Herald hovered next to them). “I’ve noticed those two are looking rather joyous today. Did something good happen?” Adenine inquired.

“Good…? I wonder.” Theory frowned.

“You don’t seem too happy with whatever happened?” Herald observed.

“I feel like it’s going to cause more trouble than anything else. Now would be a great time for those two to be sent on missions. Separate missions, preferably.”

“Now, now Theory. You can’t jump to negative ideas without any research to back up your thoughts. I doubt you’re going to want to talk about, so why not see what comes from whatever those two have planned? It could turn out rather pleasantly.” Adenine smiled.

“I agree. And if needed, I can try to stop them if they get out of hand.” Herald offered. “…then again, maybe Zenobia would be a better choice.” The electric blade closed her eyes. “…apologies. I actually had plans to train with Zenobia today. I will leave you two.” And with that said, Herald left.

“I hope all goes with her.” Adenine commented. “After that incident of her going on a rampage again, she’s been…more self-conscious than before.”

“To be expected.” Theory closed her book. “I should go too. Thank you for lending me the book. It was an interesting read…but I need to prepare. I feel like we’ll have a lot of rather long days ahead of us.”


	2. Kasandra

“…and that’s everything about the situation! Did you get all of that? Need me to repeat anything?” Kora asked once she finished explaining everything to Godfrey.

“No, you’ve explained it all perfectly, Kora! Thank you for being so thorough. I think it’s nice of you both to want to help, but are you sure about trying to track the person down? They could have left the letter because they didn’t want to be found out.” Godfrey said.

“Oh, come on. This coming from the guy that says putting things out there will give you a clear and pure heart? Heck to the no! If you didn’t want to know, you wouldn’t have come to talk to me earlier, right?” Kora retorted. Godfrey frowned, unsure of how to respond. “Come on, I’m sure that special someone is just dying to be found. Take a chance, man!”

“Gotta agree with Kora. We blades gotta take these sort of chances when we can,” Praxis supported. “Don’t worry, Godfrey. You’re a nice guy and you’re not completely dumb - a little hot-headed maybe, but you get what I mean.”

“I do,” Godfrey nodded. “I guess you’re both right. If I love the person then it’ll work out, and if I don’t love them then they have to know that. I definitely wouldn’t wanna be pining after anyone I had no chance with.”

“Well said, man!” Praxis smiled. “Well…the first order of business is to look for clues. Can we see the letter?”

“Of course!” Godfrey handed the letter to Praxis which prompted Kora to look down over the shorter blade so she could read it alongside her. Right away they could tell it couldn’t be Finch or Zenobia, the handwriting was far too neat, though not neat enough to be Adenine’s, Aegaeon’s, or KOS-MOS’.

“Oh my gosh this is super sweet. Look at this!” Kora pointed to a section of the letter. “They said Godfrey’s heart ‘inspires me to train harder, and your eyes seem to help melt away stress’, aw man why can’t someone write me something like this? I would totally die!”

“If you would die then why would you want a letter like this?”

“Figure of speech, Godfrey,” Praxis said as she handed the letter back. “Well, we can eliminate a few people by the handwriting alone…oh, Godfrey. Any idea who might write something like this? Or maybe who definitely wouldn’t?”

“Well…Perceval definitely wouldn’t. He, Perun and I all worked on a mission together and we couldn’t agree on anything.” He scowled and folded his arms. “Really, the only time we worked well was when we had to fight this Squood from the Cloud Sea and even then, he referred to us as ‘Perun and the other one’. He has zero real respect for me compared to other blades.”

“Gee…you sound pretty bothered by it.”

“I am. Even if we disagree, I’d like us to be friends.” Godfrey sighed, taking a moment. “Well…as for other people it definitely isn’t…Vale thinks I’m too loud and annoying. I think I intimidate Ursula. Then Sheba and Azami are…well…”

“They’re Sheba and Azami.” Kora said flatly.

“Exactly.”

“Well, we can take what we have now and start our investigations! We’ll let you know if we find anything.” Praxis promised.

“Thank you both! You two are good-hearted people I’m glad to call my friends. I need to go now. I’m guarding the front gate.” Godfrey smiled before saluting and walking off. Kora turned to Praxis, placing a hand on her hip.

“Okay, now that we know that much how should we tackle this? Do we go about and talk to the others one-by-one? But even then if we straight up ask if they wrote the letter then there’s no way they’d confess. Even then we’ve got like, what? 14 potential writers.”

“We’ll figure it out, don’t you worry!” Praxis promised the worrying Kora. “Who should we talk to first though? Maybe Dahlia or Agate? They’re pretty easy to talk to.”

“Oh! Oh! Or maybe we could talk to-“ Kora’s words were quickly drowned out by the crashing of a supply cart filled with timber, the logs rolling around the area. “Huh? What happened there…? Did they lose control of the cart?”

“Dear, this is the fourth incident this month!” The two looked over to see a worried Kasandra near the cart. “I wonder if someone’s been struck with bad luck. Maybe I could give them a clover.”

“Ah. Retract my question, I get it now.” Kora sighed putting a hand to her forehead. Everyone knew that Kasandra would unintentionally mess up the work going on in the village. It was a shame since Kasandra herself is a kind person who loves to help, but…”how can she be so oblivious to the fact that the mask on her head’s always causing something bad to people?”

“Didn’t they find her in the mouth of a monster? I love Kasandra, but the destruction is something we could all do without. I worry about Morag and what might happen to her with Kasandra as a blade.” Praxis sighed.

“Kora and Praxis! Could you come help pick this all up?!” Kasandra waved over to them, Roc behind her already started to help pick up the fallen wood. Kora and Praxis looked at each other, knowing it was best to move now before the mask on the back of Kasandra’s head was facing them. The two walked over to the dark haired blade. “Oh, thank you! Lucky you were both on scene to help, huh?”

“Yeah. Lucky.” Kora forced a laugh before helping by trying to roll the log back to the cart, letting a whine. “How do people carry these things? They’re, like, way too heavy!”

“What do you mean?” Kasandra tilted her head as hauled a log up into a firearm carry. Kora and Praxis paused, forgetting that hammer wielding blades tended to have good upper body strength. “I think these are pretty manageable.” She smiled placing the log onto the cart, making sure it was stable.

“Geez, Kas, you’re way too strong for your body type.” Kora giggled. “I bet you surprise a lot of guys, don’t you? If you used that kind of strength in fights you could give Roc or Zenobia a run for their money.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Kasandra smiled. “I do surprise a lot of people though. I trained with Roc earlier for the first time since he got back. I really wanted to prove I could be fierce in more ways than defence!”

“I have to admit, I was actually very impressed with the improvement!” Roc placed a log on the cart then moved to help Kora “Clearly whoever you’ve been sparring with has really been helping your power increase.”

“Oh, it was Godfrey!” Kasandra smiled. Praxis spluttered something before she dropped the log she was carrying. “Ah, Praxis?! Are you okay? You didn’t get a splinter did you?”

“Y-you train with Godfrey, huh?” Praxis couldn’t hide her grin. “Roc, could you give us a minute?”

“Hmm? But the log-“

“We’ll take care of it, just need a minute! Girl talk!” Kora chimed in quickly.

“…if you’re sure. I’ll be around if you ever need me.” Roc nodded before walking off, giving a suspicious look to Kora and Praxis. Kora turned giddily to Kasandra and clasped her hands over Kasandra’s.

“Okay, okay, you need to answer everything I’m about to ask with total honesty, okay?” Kora leaned in.

“Um…alright then.” Kasandra nodded.

“What do you think of Godfrey? Like, as a guy.” Praxis frowned at the question. They had already agreed to try and be subtle.

“As a guy…? Well, I think he’s very kind and strong. He’s nearly always smiling, even when he has to help me when I’m on clean-up duty. One time the faucet at the bar broke and Godfrey got soaked so I had to help dry him off. I’d never seen someone so grateful for something I had done. He even said he was lucky I was there to help.” Kasandra blushed slightly. “Oh, even thinking about it is embarrassing!”

Praxis and Kora looked at each other with excitement. “That’s all we needed to hear! Thank you Kas!” Kora hugged the shorter blade before running off with Praxis.

“W-wait, what about the logs?!” Kasandra called out for them, but they were already gone. “…oh geez, I guess it’s up to me…”

Kora and Praxis raced over to the front gate where Godfrey stood focused on his duty. “GodfreyGodfreyGodfrey!!” Kora said almost like a chant before stopping behind him, Praxis by her side. “It was Kasandra!”

Godfrey’s eyebrow arched. “Kasandra? How did you find out so quickly?”

“Well she basically spilled her guts about everything she thinks is amazing about you and she even blushed! Blushed! That girl is definitely head-over-heels for you! You have to ask her out, like, right now! You could do it under the tree up on the hill!” Kora said.

“Oh, they say if you confess your love under a Saffronia tree then it’ll come true! Oh, do it Godfrey, it’ll be perfect!” Praxis supported quickly.

Godfrey looked between the two girls and scratched the back of his head. “Well…I still have to finish duty. However! Afterwards I will invite Kasandra to the tree in order to confront her about the letter! I will know the truth!”

“What are you idiots babbling about?” The three looked to see Vale and Floren approaching the gate. “First I have to go with this idiot to take care of a bunch of annoying Urchons and now I come back to find you three have some weird gossip session.” Vale glared at them.

“She’s worked up because she got an Urchon needle to the butt.” Floren explained, resulting in him being greeted with Vale’s megalance at his throat.

“I won’t hesitate to put a deep cut across that tiny neck of yours.” Vale warned. Godfrey reached out and pulled the megalance out of Vale’s grasp. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing you ass?!” She gritted her teeth.

“Vale, it’s unacceptable for you to point a weapon at a comrade like that! Floren meant no harm, you had no right to threaten him like that and you know it! Apologise this instant!” Godfrey scolded. Vale’s fist clenched, but she knew how the ice blade was when he gave out lectures.

“Fine!” She turned to Floren “I’m sorry about the lance,” She then turned to Godfrey “Now give me my weapon back!” Godfrey thought for a moment before handing the lance back. In a flash of ether, Vale let her weapon disappear. “I’m done with you idiots.” Vale entered the village grumbling under her breath.

“Gee, what a big ‘ol grump.” Kora remarked.

Floren jumped up and wrapped his arms around Godfrey and pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you Godfrey! You’re the best, I don’t know where I’d be without you there to defend me and everyone else!”

“Hah! Even Vale can’t help but apologise for her misdeeds when I’m the one that confronts her! That’s the power of my justice!” Godfrey laughed. Kora stared at the over-affectionate behaviour of Floren and thought for a minute.

“Well!” Floren jumped back and smiled at Godfrey. “I have to go too! I’m hanging out with Electra and Ursula! Bye-bye Godfrey!” Floren waved then skated off into Garfont.

“…we have a problem.” Kora spoke gravely. “After seeing how Floren acts towards to you, I think he could also have written the letter.”

“What? We already decided it was Kasandra though!” Praxis argued.

“Come on, Praxis, you saw how Floren clung to Godfrey like he was Floren’s protector! That’s a grade-A show of love!”

“No, Floren’s like that with a lot of people.” Godfrey dismissed. “Dagas especially. Not sure if they have something in common or something, but I can’t question Floren’s choices in friends.”

“Oh.” Kora crossed his arms. “…he’s never like that with me.”

“Kora, when have you ever spoke with Floren. I mean, like...really spoke with him.” Praxis said. Kora thought for a moment.

“…alright, fair point. Anyway, we have the plan, right? After your off duty, you invite Kasandra up to the Saffronia tree and talk to her about the letter and then everything will work out and Theory can eat her words!”

“Hell yeah!” Praxis cheered.  
\---  
Over at the training area, Theory felt a chill go down her spine. Newt looked at her curiously. “What the heck was that?” Newt sat down on her larger hands.

“I think someone was talking about me.” Theory explained. “Forget it. Praxis is just doing stupid stuff with Kora, and I guess I’m worried about the results.”

“Kora and Praxis? Weird combo.” Newt said. “What are they doing?”

“Trying to play matchmaker. I don’t have a good feeling about it. Right now they’re trying to help Godfrey.”

“The love letter, right?” Perun who was polishing her lance in the corner looked over at them. “I presume that’s what they’re helping with, right?”

“Yeah. I feel like those two are gonna mess everything up for poor Godfrey. I’ll be able to tell them ‘I told you so’ at the very least.” Theory shook her head and drew her sword. “No matter. Newt?”

Newt smirked and stood up, taking out her own sword. “I’m all yours!”  
\---  
Godfrey stood under the Saffronia tree with Kora and Praxis hiding behind it, listening for when Kasandra would appear. “Are you sure about this?” Godfrey asked.

“Don’t be such a worrywart! Worrying causes wrinkles and Kasandra won’t wanna date a wrinkly old weirdo!” Kora said. There were sounds of someone approaching, Praxis quietly hushed Kora and the two did their best to remain out of sight when Kasandra walked under the tree to greet Godfrey.

“Kasandra! Thank you for agreeing to meet me here! I’d like to start by saying I appreciate you a lot for that alone!” Godfrey smiled.

“Oh, that’s very sweet of you, but…could I ask about what all this is about?” There were a few drops of rain that began to fall when Kasandra began to speak. “Oh dear…maybe we should head inside? It would be bad if either of us caught a cold.”

“No!” Godfrey insisted “This’ll only take a moment of your time and then we can run for shelter. This needs to happen under the tree though.” Kasandra looked up at the tree then back to Godfrey and nodded. “Yesterday I received a letter from a secret admirer.”

“What? Godfrey that’s amazing! You’re so lucky, I wish I could have gotten a letter like that from someone,” Kasandra clasped her hands and leaned forward with enthusiasm. “…oh, do you know who wrote it?”

“I think I do.” Godfrey took a breath. “Kasandra! You wrote the letter, correct?!” Kora and Praxis mentally face-palmed, there were definitely gentler ways to ask that. Kasandra took a moment before breaking into a deep blush.

“M-me?!” She exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her. “U-um, Godfrey, you’re very sweet to me and strong…” Her voice trailed off, holding her hands to her chest. “I, uh…”

“Come now, Kasandra! Confess your feelings and let that passion be free!” Godfrey pointed at the dark haired girl.

“Let it be free…” Kasandra nodded with determination. “Alright! Th-the truth is...I…I’m in love-“ Kora and Praxis high-fived “-with Vale!” Kora, Praxis, and Godfrey all took a moment to process what Kasandra had said.

“What?!” Kora and Praxis yelled simultaneously, emerging from behind the tree.

“Kora?! Praxis?!” Kasandra stepped back in shock. “W-were you two spying?!”

“We thought you liked Godfrey?!” Praxis got closer to Kasandra, the rain at the same time seemed to get heavier though nobody took notice. “What do you mean you like Vale? Vale?!”

“D…did you think I wrote the letter? Sorry if I had caused a misunderstanding.” Kasandra frowned guiltily. “Godfrey is a wonderful guy, but I see him more as a hero figure than a romantic interest. His sense of justice and his kindness are admirable, y’know? But…I don’t what it is about Vale…I just want to be around her.”

“Geez, you mean we’ve been thinking the wrong thing this whole time?! Gosh darn it!” Kora stomped her foot. When her foot hit the ground, a bolt of lightning struck the branch above Kora, a loud cracking noise came from the branch causing Kora to look up to see the branch plummeting towards her. “…huh?”

“Kora!” Godfrey acted quickly, carrying Kora out of the way of the branch right before it would have impacted on her. “Are you okay?!”

“Ugh…” Kora looked up to find Godfrey inches away whilst he held her in a princess carry. Taking a moment to process everything, Kora felt her face heat up. “Y-yeah, I’m good…” Godfrey smiled with relief and set her on her feet carefully. “…thanks Godfrey.”

“Ah! The tree!” Kasandra pointed up where the lightning had struck flames had begun to form. “Wh-what do we do?!”

“Leave it to me!” Praxis pushed the water around her up to the flames quickly extinguishing them before they had any chance to spread. “…phew.”

“Wow…good thing you were here Praxis. That tree might have burned down if we didn’t have you around.” Kasandra smiled, Praxis noticed the mask on the back of Kasandra’s head was shaking. Kasandra scratched the back of her neck. “Hmm…there’s that slight prickling feeling again.”  
\---  
“I told you it wouldn’t work.” Theory said. The next day she and Praxis sat at their usual table. “But did you listen…? No.” Praxis hated Theory’s ‘I was right’ attitude.

“But aren’t you curious now? If it wasn’t Kasandra, then who could it be?” Praxis leaned over the table. “I wanna know, Theory! I wanna help Godfrey out! And now I can help out Kasandra too! I found out who she likes.”

“Huh? She told you?” Theory arched her eyebrow.

“When she was telling Godfrey she didn’t see him like that, yeah. Which means…Kora’s and Praxis’ blade matchmaking business is still going!”

“Praxis, no.”

“Praxis yes!” The water blade grinned. “Come on, lighten up. These guys have feelings they don’t think they can talk about properly. Don’t you think I’m doing a good thing by trying to help? Wouldn’t you want to be able to tell the person you loved about your feelings?”

Theory stared at Praxis. “…I would.” Theory stood and began to walk away “Good luck with the task then.”

Praxis frowned as she watched her walk away. “…Theory…is something going on with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to start with a blade that I really, liked but if there are any blades you'd want focus on then let me know!  
> Hope you like it, let me know how you feel about the story so far!


	3. Aegaeon

Kasandra, Godfrey, Kora, and Praxis all sat near the mouth of the tunnel near the Saffronia tree. It was a good enough place to have their meetings considering very few people tended to come around to this area. Maybe the occasional Phonex ran by but nothing to worry about it. Kora had been pacing up and down the small area for a minute or so before she finally turned to the other three and exclaiming “I got it!”

“Got what?” Praxis asked.

“What we’re gonna do about the situation. Since there are two of us and two issues in front of us right now, we divide up the work. One of us gets Kasandra and the other gets Godfrey. Personally, I wanna help Godfrey because I still really love the mystery aspect of the letter and I wanna be the one to find the author.” Kora smiled gleefully.

“So, I’d help Kasandra with Vale…?” Praxis crossed her arms, thinking over the possibility. Kasandra brought disaster almost everywhere she went, somehow being around her all the time until the issue was resolved was about as appealing as slamming her hand on an open box of needles. Even so, Kasandra was a friend. ”Alright then. I’ll try my best.” Praxis promised. How she was going to live up to that promise? That was yet to be seen.

“Great! Then we have a plan!” Kora took Godfrey’s hands. “Okay, Godfrey, we’re gonna have to, like, really dig deep if we wanna find out who wrote that letter. The good thing is that we know it wasn’t Kasandra. Which means we’ve eliminated one potential suspect! Progress!”

“Then…what’ll Praxis and I do?” Kasandra asked.

“You and I’ll come up with a plan to see if we can find out how Vale feels about you. If all goes well, you could end up together.” Praxis said.

“Y’know, the more I envision it, the cuter you two would actually look together. That’s real.” Kora said.

“Ah…th-thank you, Kora.” Kasandra reddened, pressing her fingertips together embarrassed. Praxis grinned and linked arms with Kasandra, pulling her away from the other two. The spring in her step caused Kasandra to lose balance for a moment but she smiled at the water blade anyway.

Kora then back to Godfrey who seemed to have a rather content smile forming on his face. “What’s got you in a good mood? Excited for the future of your love life?”

“Partly. However, I also think it’s great that you and Praxis are helping Kasandra with her emotions too. You’re both very good friends to not just myself but to all the blades here in camp. Excellent work, Kora! You deserve the praise.”

Kora flushed and giggled a little. His bluntness and proud nature did have its own charm, Kora admitted to herself. It was odd she hadn’t made note of it before. Maybe she just hadn’t hung out with Godfrey enough until now…was it bad that it took a love note for Kora to be interested in Godfrey’s character?

“Anyway, what are the plans for today? How shall we go about trying to find the author of the love letter?” Godfrey said.

“Well…my plan was to kind of just snoop around, try and hear if any tea was being spilled. Though that might be hard. Nobody knows about the love note outside of our little group…and Theory. Theory knows too, but she won’t tell anyone.” Kora folded her arms. “…I figure it might be easiest if we let word get out. If people start talking about it more then we could overhear actual information.”

“Is that really a clever idea? Not that I doubt you or anything, but I worry that the author may become embarrassed hearing that their writing became known.”

“Don’t be such a big worrywart. We won’t properly publish it. We just say you got one. Nobody else needs to see it, they just need to know it exists. No harm in that.” Kora promised, though Godfrey still seemed hesitant to follow. “Come on, I promise you it’ll all work out! Pinky promise!”

\--

Theory sat with Aegaeon and Electra by the sparring ring. Electra had requested help with her training, saying she was having trouble when Morag would fight drivers with blades wielding chrome katanas. “Yeah, yeah! I think I understand it better now! Next time I fight against a sword user I’m really gonna socket to ‘em!” She cheered, a few sparks buzzing in her hair.

“Glad I could help.” Theory nodded. Aegaeon nodded too but said nothing.

“Thank you! Both of you! You’re the greatest!” She hugged them both. Theory, out of habit prepared to feel the electricity hit her but it was more of a slight tingle going through her body. Even Aegaeon seemed unphased and water blades tended to get hit hard by Electra’s electricity. Electra stepped away and smiled widely. “Thank goodness for my training. I’m not zapping accidentally zapping anyone anymore!”

“Help from Morag and the others, I presume?” Theory said with a slight smile.

“Yuh huh!” Electra nodded. “I’m so glad I got to be Morag’s blade! She takes really good care of me, and Aegaeon too…y’know…when we’re actually with her.”

“I see. Well, that is reassuring to hear.” Theory said.

“Right…I’m gonna go find Ursula! I promised her we’d play today, and I don’t wanna break that promise! Thanks again you two!” Electra bounced off. Aegaeon prepared to leave also before Theory halted him.

“You’ve been acting odd. Is everything alright?” Theory asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.” He said simply.

“You didn’t say a single word that entire sparring session. The only time I’ve heard you say anything before now was when you agree to spar. And even then, it was only a simple ‘okay’. You seem more distant. I should know what that looks like, Praxis accused me of it a lot.”

Aegaeon shifted slightly to looked at Theory. “…I was just lost in thought. That is all. Natural curiosity about things within the village.”

“About what?”

“Have you not heard? Kora has been telling everyone about the letter Godfrey had received. I was…simply caught up in the thought of who could have sent it.” Aegaeon explained.

“…you’re interested in romance?”

Aegaeon’s face had a momentary blue hue. For some reason whenever he got flustered, he’d go blue instead of red. “That is not the issue you asked about.” Theory had a suppress the smirk that wanted to appear. Aegaeon was so secretive about his interests that finding one out was like stumbling on a cave of legendary core crystals. He raised his clenched fist and cough into it awkwardly. “I…I ask you not to mention this to anyone.”

“I won’t. Trust me, I wouldn’t wish Kora’s and Praxis’ matchmaking on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.” Theory promised. She paused before asking, “Is there a reason you’re so interested? I mean I doubt you’re the author of the note.”

“You’d be correct. I am not.” Aegaeon said, hesitant to say more. “…I just…like the idea of having someone by my side in that sense. A love note reminded me that I’m not exactly fit for such things. Especially not here where the population is mostly blades.”

“What do you mean? Is there something wrong with two blades being intimate?”

“Not here in Uraya. However, Mor Ardain’s views on such relationships are…not so kind. Two Blades in a relationship is frowned deeply by Mor Ardain’s population. Blades and Drivers are fine, naturally. But two blades, especially of the same driver…they treat it as if it were something distasteful.” Aegaeon explained, clearly not happy with how his home country’s views.

“I didn’t know Mor Ardain’s attitude was like that. It’s rather sad to hear.” Theory admitted. “…so there is a blade that you are interested in?”

Aegaeon’s blue hue came back. “Like I said, I am not here to discuss such things. Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on Praxis? If you think this matchmaking will end so badly, why are you not trying to stop it?”

“Because I know Praxis, and if she’s team up with Kora then there’s really no hope. Though I suppose I could at least keep watch over them and try to control it a little bit.” Theory folded her arms. “I will see you around, Aegaeon. Good day.”

“And to you also.” Aegaeon nodded as Theory walked away. The water blade’s gaze turned to the ground and he sighed. “…a love letter…I could never…”

\--

“There she is!” Praxis grinned, pointing towards Vale in a completely non-discrete way. She was sitting near the Shrine of Offering and overlooking the village. Luckily, it didn’t seem like she had noticed the two yet.

“What should we do?” Kasandra asked, her voice hesitant now that she was being faced with this. “…do you really think it’s a good idea to just jump into this? Shouldn’t we do something, like, making sure she actually likes girls…?”

“Trust me. I know Vale well enough to say she’s a fan of girls, she just doesn’t like to showcase her feelings. That’ll be the biggest challenge in trying to get you two together. I wonder how I should go about trying to get the information from someone like her…?” Praxis frowned now pondering her possibilities.

“I could go and try to talk to her.” Kasandra suggested, clasping her hands. “I mean, Vale and I talk quite a bit already, so it wouldn’t be odd.”

“If that’s the case, then you should have said so from the start! C’mon, Kasandra, you got this-“ There was a slight rumble from above. Praxis and Kasandra looked up to see a large rock tumbling down into the village. Praxis tried to move but her legs felt stuck to the floor, she couldn’t even turn to see if Kasandra had gotten out of the way.

“Hyah!!” There was a purplish light that hit the boulder which resulted in it disintegrating before it could fall onto anyone. Vale landed in front of Praxis, twirling her megalance. “What? Are you planning on waiting for another rock to come along and crush you? I won’t save you again.” She sneered.

“S…sorry.” Was all Praxis managed.

“Wow, Vale that move was amazing! That boulder was huge too, have you been getting stronger?” Kasandra moved into Praxis’ line of sight. Kasandra seemed in awe of Vale’s actions which was understandable.

“Somebody has to be able to counterattack your mishaps. May as well be me. Gives me weird ways to train but if it gets me stronger then I’ll deal with it.” Vale turned to walk away. Kasandra continued to smile but tilted her head, clearly unaware of what Vale meant by ‘mishaps’.

“Wait, that’s it? You save us then disappear like it was nothing?” Praxis called out.

“What? You want me to take you out for food or something? I’d rather be doing missions, at least that would give me a way to affirm my existence.” Vale folded her arms and leaned against the stone wall. There was always this sense of disinterest with Vale, Praxis couldn’t understand what Kasandra connected with. Maybe because they’re both dark blades?

“Oh please, Vale! I’d love to sit down and chat. It’s been a while since we’ve done that.” Kasandra pleaded with the biggest puppy-dog-eyes she could muster. Vale scowled for a moment before sighing and massaging her forehead with her thumb and index finger. A clear sign on her giving in to Kasandra’s charm.

“Fine. One drink.”

“That’s fine with me!” Kasandra beamed.

\--

Aegaeon sat at the Shrine of Journeys. It was one of the places he could sit with his thoughts and not be bothered by anyone. Not that he found anyone bothersome, well maybe Floren sometimes and maybe Dagas too, but otherwise he thought the group was easy to be around. He laid back into the pool of water behind him. Kind of. The water parted as he fell back so he wouldn’t get wet. Perks of being a water blade.

“The love note…” He murmured to himself. He had thought about it before, but the idea of it was terrifying to him. Not that anyone would have been able to tell. He wasn’t one for broadcasting his emotions for the whole of Alrest to see. And heaven forbid the thought that people found out that he was more of a romantic than he let on. That would follow him until he, or everyone else, returned to their cores. Whichever came first.

“There you are.” Aegaeon sat up at the voice of Zenobia floating down next to him. Wind blades. Always flying in unannounced. “Gorg sent me to look for you, he’s makin’ food. You don’t wanna miss dessert time!” She grinned. Zenobia was way too easily pleased. Food and fighting. That was all that she needed.

“Apologies if I caused anyone to worry. I’m not hungry right now though.” It was a lie, he was kind of hungry. He just wasn’t in a mood to eat.

“Not hungry? Somethin’ happen?” Zenobia let her feet touch the ground, her arms still firmly crossed over her chest.

“No, sorry to disappoint if you were looking for gossip.”

“Oh, right, you know me. Big village gossip.” Zenobia deadpanned. “I ain’t Kora! Come on, just talk to me, man. I ain’t got anybody to tell.”

“I’m serious, Zenobia. I am fine.” Aegaeon looked away. He didn’t need this right now. Between the idea of a love note and being reminded by his conversation with Theory that blade-on-blade relationships weren’t always celebrated, he just needed to be alone. “Isn’t Herald usually with you?”

“Eh…? We train together a lot. She’s strong, and I can admire that. One of the only blades that give me a real challenge in a fight.” Zenobia grinned. “…hey, hold on! Are you trying to redirect the conversation?!”

“I would never.” Aegaeon laid back down. Zenobia let out a low hum.

“Well if we’re gonna be like that, aren’t you usually with Perceval?!”

“What does Perceval have to do with anything?” Aegaeon said with sudden defence that caught both Zenobia and himself off guard. “…never mind. Go back, I will be down soon. Even if I don’t feel up to it, I still need to eat.” Zenobia seemed to hesitate for a moment but nodded. Her feet left the ground once more and she let the winds carry her off.

Aegaeon sighed and rested his face in the palms of his hands. He hoped that Zenobia wouldn’t think much about it…maybe she was right though. He needed help.

\--

Kora slumped against the front gate. She hadn’t gotten any further finding out who had written the note to Godfrey. It’s like they were a master of hiding themselves. “Geez…what am I gonna do about all this…? I hope Praxis is having an easier time than me.”

“Kora.” She looked up to find Aegaeon looming over her, his face slightly distressed. An odd sight, to say the least.

“Hey Aeg. You okay…? You’re not looking too hot. Did something bad happen? Did somebody say something bad about Mor Ardain-“

“I heard from Theory that you and Praxis were helping the blades around the village with their emotional problems. Is that true?” Kora’s eyes widened. Aegaeon was asking about it?

“Yeah, I guess that’s a way of putting it. Prax and I are helping blades find their one true loves! We want a happy ending for everyone in the village, see Godfrey got this love note-“

Aegaeon cut her off again. “I need your help if that is the case.” Kora’s eyes widened further. Aegaeon’s voice seemed shaky, it was out of character for him. “…I…I think I may have fallen for Perceval.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gahhhhhhhhhh exam season makes it difficult to make time to write.
> 
> I'll try to make time for writing because I'm enjoying writing this and seeing your thoughts and comments. Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Thanks for reading this far!


	4. Perun

“I see…Perceval, huh…?” Kora wasn’t sure what to say. That was a first. “I want to help, Aeg. Really, I do. But Praxis and I are already helping Godfrey and someone else, so trying to help a third person when there’s only two of us…”

“I understand but I don’t have anyone else I can ask of this.” Aegaeon’s head lowered, his voice was huskier than usual. “…please, Kora. I’m not sure what my other options are at this point.” There was a silence, Kora closed her eyes and weighed out her options for a few moments.

“Alright.” She decided, placing a hand on Aegaeon’s shoulder. “Let’s talk to Godfrey, I’m helping him out right now, so it would be best if I asked him if he’d wanna put his thing on hold or whatever. But I’ll definitely help you!”

Aegaeon’s eyebrows lifted for a moment before he smiled. “My gratitude, Kora. I only hope that it will work out.”

“Don’t worry. You’re, like, so charming. Percy would totally dig that. I think Percy’s secretly super duper romantic. Have you heard him talk? He’s like a poet. Love and poetry are, like…the perfect combination!”

“Yes, I suppose you have a point. Though being a certain type won’t guarantee anything, but I’ll trust you.” Aegaeon promised.

“Good. Praxis and I’ll get you a good ol’ date with Percy. He’ll be head-over-heels for you by the time I’m done. I’m thinking a you two go up to Soulcrown Summit. Look at the stars, maybe have a romantic dinner.”

“Do you think Perceval is the type to like that?” Aegaeon’s brow furrowed slightly unsure.

“We’re gonna find out. Come up with a cover story…like…you two need to check out a report of a rampant monster, but you won’t be back in time for dinner. You see that it was a false report and you can have your dinner.” Kora said, placing air quotes around ‘false report’.

“I feel as though the use of the air quotes is unnecessary. It technically is a false report.”

“Details! My point is that it means you can have a wonderful time with ol’ Percy and not have it come off as suspicious.” Kora clapped her hands together, satisfied with her own plan. “It’s supposed to be clear tonight too, so it’ll be nice. Stars for miles.”

“Well, I said I would take your advice…very well. I’ll attempt this method.”

“Great! Next, we teach you the art of seduction~”

“No.”

\--

“Kasandra, I wish you would be more careful where you point that mask.” Vale commented. She, Kasandra, and Praxis were sitting around one of the tables by the bar. “Misfortune hits whatever that thing looks at.”

“Huh? I don’t know what you mean.” Kasandra tilted her head, her oblivious smile beaming. “I like my mask, I keep it as my good luck charm.”

“Oh, the irony.” Vale rolled her eyes, stirring her tea. “What’s your deal though? I noticed you staring earlier. Before that boulder came tumbling down.”

“E-eh?!” Kasandra’s face flushed. “W-we were just wondering why you were sitting up there by yourself, is all! S…sorry if we made you uncomfortable.” Kasandra twiddled her thumbs as she spoke and looked down at her lap.

“Don’t put words in my mouth. It was just a question, and you answered it. I was sitting up there because I had nothing better to do, and it has a relaxing view of the village. I’m not going out on any missions any time soon, so I was making myself comfortable.” Vale’s tone seemed to change slightly when she mentioned she wasn’t going on a mission.

“I thought you just completed a mission a while ago. You’re one of the best Mercs here.” Praxis said. Vale traced her finger over the rim of the teacup and closed her eyes.

“Maybe I simply want something more thrilling than these boring missions…we blades are made to fight for our drivers and here we all are, helping with menial tasks. My last mission was to clear a blocked path. Uraya has machines for that, but we’re expected to do it.” Praxis and Kasandra looked at each other, both frowning. “What?” They looked back at Vale, “Are you surprised I’m not happy being a simple mercenary? Sorry, but I highly doubt you two are any different.”

Praxis looked down at her drink, knowing she was right. Praxis hated being stuck here, even if she was Theory, Kora, and the others, it felt like her powers were going to waste. “Yeah, I get what you mean. Even so, I think we’re lucky.”

“Lucky?” Vale glanced at Kasandra. “Ironic. How so?”

“You two should know what I mean. You’re both Morag’s blades after all. We all have drivers who care about us a lot, and even if we don’t always get to travel with them, we get to exist right now. We get to know those amazing people, and the people here in Garfont too.” Praxis’ brow furrowed and her grip on the cup in front of her tightened as she continued, “My last driver was a core crystal hunter. He stole core crystals from drivers so he could make huge profits, and I just went along with it because that’s what happens when you get awakened by someone with a bad heart.”

“Praxis…” Kasandra put a hand on Praxis’ arm. “I know how you feel…I found out that my last driver had a really bad unlucky streak, and in the end he and I got swallowed by a monster in Mor Ardain. That’s how the group found me…I wonder if he died because I failed to be a good blade…?”

“Probably not.” Vale interrupted. “I don’t know anything about my past awakenings, if there were any, they just found my crystal during their travels by pure chance. I’d like to know what my existence means, whether it was positive or not doesn’t matter. Just so I know what I was like. What my impact was. You two, Theory, Aegaeon, Perceval, Herald, Wulfric, Bridghid, Vess…you all have a past you can use to shape yourselves now. I have nothing…” Her eyes looked sorrowful for a moment before they became stern again.

Vale stood up, her teacup was still half-empty. “I think I’m going to go and train outside the village.” Without another word, the gothic blade walked off. Praxis sighed, even if Vale didn’t show it, it was obvious the conversation had distressed her slightly.

“I never knew Vale had such pain in her heart.” Kasandra clutched her own wrist over her chest, “She keeps so much of her feelings to herself. It’s so sad…”

Praxis stared at the mask on the back of Kasandra’s head before speaking. “…you wanna help her, right? Then I’ll help you do it. That was a cry for help, if I’ve ever heard one. We gotta do something to help her…she doesn’t like the fact that she has no idea about who she used to be, right? She wants to know what kind of impact she’s had…so…why don’t we send out mercs to investigate? I’m sure if we search hard enough, we can find records on Vale.”

“You’re right! I’ll go and ask if we can organise a mission!” Kasandra leaped from her seat. “I’ll have to gather the information collectors and such, but it shouldn’t take too long! Oh, Vale’s going to feel so happy after this!” Praxis smiled for a moment then noticed the mask trembling. A large crash came from the art shop nearby, Kasandra turned and gasped. “Oh no! Um…I’ll go help them! Can you organise the mission?”

“Yeah. No problem.” Praxis said weakly. If she succeeded with Vale and Kasandra, Vale was going to have a lot to deal with.

\--

“Heard you asked out Perceval.” Aegaeon jumped slightly when Zenobia whispered into his ear. Aegaeon frowned at the floating blade who didn’t seem to know how to mind her own business, “Didn’t think you had the guts to ask anyone out, but if you’ve been wrestling with feelings, then that explains why you were being so weird yesterday.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I simply told Perceval that he and I were asked to go on a mission up at Soulcrown Summit. It’s not a date, so do not say such asinine things.” Aegaeon simply responded.

“Is that so?” Aegaeon raised an eyebrow when Zenobia grinned mischievously. “So, the fact that I just went up to Soulcrown Summit and saw nothing out of the ordinary…that’s prompting a mission? Come on, you can tell your best friend.”

“That would be Brighid.”

Zenobia frowned. “…best wind blade friend.”

“Adenine.”

“Greataxe user!”

“Gorg.”

“You fucker!” Zenobia yelled, the vein on her forehead popping out slightly. She uncrossed her legs and stood on the ground. “My point is that I get the whole ‘I am a tough emotionless blade’ schtick. I mean, I’m friends with Herald. But if you’re gonna woo Mr Assassin-turned-poet, then you’re gonna need all the advice you can get because I’m not gonna lie, you’re probably as smooth as an Urchon.”

Aegaeon’s cheeks tinted blue and he turned away. “I didn’t ask for your opinion on my dating abilities. Mostly because, I’m not going on a date!”

“Bullshit.” Zenobia but an emphasis on both syllables, “if there’s only thing I can count on, other than my awesome fighting skills, it’s my gaydar. And when you look at Perceval, it’s going ‘Ding Ding Ding’!”

“You are a child.” Aegaeon started to walk away.

“You can’t deny it forever, Aegaeon! If you keep this up, it’ll bite you in the ass!” Zenobia called after him. She watched the blade walking away long enough for Herald to drift over to her.

“Did you two have a disagreement over something?” She asked. Zenobia looked up at the mecha blade and shook her head.

“Doesn’t matter. C’mon, let’s go somewhere and fight. I need to blow off some steam.” She levitated herself and floated off with Herald trailing behind her.

\--

“Huh?! You have a way of identifying who wrote the note?!” Kora gaped at Godfrey. “Geez…here I am, saying I’m gonna help you, and you’ve already found a way to figure it out without me.”

“Do not fret, Kora! I completely appreciate the effort you’ve put in to help me!” Godfrey smiled brightly. Kora’s face brightened for a moment, but she let him continue. “I figured we could try identifying the handwriting of the letter. KOS-MOS would be able to do something like that, right?”

“Oh! I didn’t even think of that! Godfrey, that’s like, genius!” Kora clasped her hands together.

“Thanks, I took a good while to come up with it.” That wasn’t hard to believe. He was a little more ‘act first, think later’ compared to the other two members of the ‘Justice Trinity’ as he, Perun, and Perceval had been called. But he looked proud, so Kora just nodded and smiled. “Alright, now we just need to find KOS-MOS.”

“Find KOS-MOS for what?” They turned to find Perun approaching them. “You two have been spending a lot of time together the past few days. It’s rather odd.” She had her lance gripped in her hand, which meant she had either just returned from a mission, or she was sparring with someone.

“We just need her help with something. That’s all.” Kora said. Perun looked at her for a moment before turning her attention to Godfrey.

“Tell me what you need her for.” She said directly. Godfrey paused, he wasn’t sure if it was okay to say anything, but it was just Perun. She wouldn’t tell anyone.

“We need KOS-MOS to analyse the handwriting of this letter that I got. It was anonymous, and we want to know who wrote it. I figured that KOS-MOS could probably tell who wrote it.” He explained. Perun’s lance disappeared from her grip and she folded her arms.

“…I heard Theory talking to Newt about a love note. Is it that?”

“Theory was talking about it?!” Kora stepped back. She was so used to the cold, unresponsive Theory, so the idea that she had been basically gossiping with other blades? Baffling, to say the least.

“…Well, let me tell you now. I know who KOS-MOS will identify as the author of the note.” Kora and Godfrey looked surprised when Perun spoke. “…I was the one that wrote the note, Godfrey. However, I am simply a ghost-writer.”

“Y-you wrote the note?! And what do you mean ‘ghost-writer’?! You mean that someone else had you write it?!” Kora barraged the ice blade with the questions without waiting for any answers, until the annoyed Perun raised a hand to cut her off.

“…that’s what I’m saying, yes. They sought my help with the note because they felt they could trust me. If you’re going to find out I was the writer anyway, I figured it was best to save you the trouble of getting the note analysed. They told me how they felt, and I put it onto paper, but…I cannot disclose the identity of your secret admirer.” Perun closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“Wait, you’re gonna tell us all that and not who actually wrote it?” Kora leaned in towards her. “Do you realise how important this is for Godfrey? How could you keep this from him?!”

“Because I made a promise, Kora. I will not betray the trust someone has placed in me, both of you should know that I am not a condoner of such things.” Perun’s angered expression was enough to make both move back. “…do not pursue this, Godfrey. It won’t end well.”

“What does that mean?” Godfrey asked. Perun stared at the pair before turning her back to them.

“Apologies, but it is not my place to tell you the details. I hope you understand.” Perun walked away.

“…dammit…we’re back where we started.” Kora cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And all 3 plotlines proceed! One will probably be finishing up in the next few chapters, so look forward to that.
> 
>  
> 
> Since exam season is over for me, I have more time to write. But, as I always say, your comments and kudos help me stay motivated to write! Hopefully you've enjoyed this chapter!


	5. The Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Aegaeon's date with Perceval in motion, and the team searching for information on Vale's past. The matchmaking business continues!

“Mother _FUCKER_!!” Zenobia cried out as she smashed the boulder to pieces. Herald watched her with a frown implanted on her face as Zenobia let her rage out on the rocks. “Who the hell does Aegaeon think he is?! If I was in his position, I’d want all the help I could get. I told. I specifically told him, word-for-word that he was as ‘smooth as an urchon’ but nothing!”

“Urchons are smooth when their spines are sheathed.” Herald said.

“You know what I mean!” Zenobia lowered her weapon and turned to Herald. “Aegaeon is always the same, he puts up that stupid wall which is gonna stop him from getting close to Perceval. So, he’s basically got his spine out and ready to attack…so the metaphor works!”

“I believe ‘smooth as an urchon’ would be a simile.”

“Quit nit-picking!”

“How can you be sure that Aegaeon has feelings for Perceval? It’s possible that you could be mistaken, no?” Herald floated to Zenobia’s side. Zenobia glared at the ground and tightened her grip on her greataxe.

“No, he’s definitely in love with Perceval! I know those looks he gives him, I know that dumb smile…I’ve…” Her voice trailed off. Herald said her name, but Zenobia didn’t hear it. The wind blade let her weapon disappear. “…I’ve trained enough today…I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna prove he likes Perceval, and then I’m gonna show the evidence in his stupid face! You’ll all see!” She continued to yell as she marched off.

Herald let out a sigh and watched as Zenobia left. “This can’t end well…”

Zap.

Herald looked at her arm curiously. She could have sworn she heard electricity…

\--

“You’re kidding…then even though Perun knows who it is, she won’t tell us?” Praxis frowned. She, Kasandra, Godfrey, and Kora met once Aegaeon had left for Soulcrown Summit. The reveal that Perun had been a ghost-writer shocked them all, but it unfortunately didn’t help them in figuring out who wrote the note. “…I don’t get it. Did they not want to be found out…? But if they didn’t want to be found out then why write the note?”

“Maybe it was a way to vent some untold feelings?” Kasandra suggested.

“…I’m starting to wonder if I should be pursuing this at all…” Godfrey admitted. Kora and Praxis turned to him in surprise. “I’m grateful for your help…but is it really right for me to pursue someone who doesn’t want to be pursued?”

“Godfrey, we don’t know their reasons yet. They could have other reasons for what they did…don’t give up so easily.” Kora placed a hand on Godfrey’s bicep and smiled. Praxis’ glance shifted between the two in that moment before Kora looked to Kasandra and Praxis. “Anyway, you said something about Vale’s past, right?”

“Vale was lamenting that she didn’t have any information on her past, so Praxis organised a group to go and try to find any records on Vale’s past. Hopefully they’ll be able to find something. Maybe she was a guard for an ancient hero, or a descendant to a royal.” Kasandra said.

“I think it’s kind of you to help her out. Vale’s pretty dark, totally not my style, but I don’t think she’s really a mean person. A little rough, sure, but sweet deep down.” Kora said. She paused for a moment and clapped her hands together, touching her fingertips to her lips. “…I hope Aegaeon and Perceval are okay…” The other three nodded in unison.

“To think Aegaeon…” Praxis’ voice trailed off. She had admired him for being such a strong water blade with such an important position in the world, but this was something completely out of his comfort zone. She was admittedly worried for him.

“We don’t have to worry!” Godfrey exclaimed almost too loudly. “Aegaeon is strong and smart. I know Perceval well enough to know they get along! It’s as good a start as any, and if anyone can get under Perceval’s hard shell, it’ll be Aegaeon.” 

“You might be right.” Praxis said, though secretly doubtful. “…we’ll just need to see what happens…” Her eyes went back to Kora who seemed to be focusing her attention on Godfrey a little more than normal. Ever since the incident where he saved her from that tree branch she’s been looking at him different, almost as if…

Praxis’ eye widened in realisation. She stood and grabbed Kora’s arm. “Come with me. Now.” Without waiting for a response, she dragged Kora away from the table leaving a curious Kasandra and Godfrey to look on in confusion.

“Wh-what are you doing, Prax? No need to be so rough with a girl!” Kora huffed when they stopped behind one of the tents and away from any potential overhearers.

“You like Godfrey, don’t you?” Kora’s face heated when the blunt question came from Praxis’ lips. “I knew it!”

“Hold on now, don’t just jump to conclusions when you’re hitting me with questions like that!” Kora retorted. “I told you when you, Theory, and I were all talking! Godfrey isn’t my type at all, there’s no way I could have a thing for him!”

“Yeah, that was before he saved your butt from that tree branch. Don’t try to pretend like you haven’t been acting differently since then!” The electric blade was silent. “…Kora, we’re supposed to be helping Godfrey with this note…how are you gonna be able to do that if you have feelings for him?”

Kora clenched her fist. “…I don’t have feelings for Godfrey…and even if I did, I’m not the type of friend to steal him away from someone else. You know that, Praxis. Godfrey is a nice guy, yes. And he helped me, sure. Do I see him in a different light because of it? Of course, I do because I’ve never needed saving like that before. But guess what? It makes me see him as someone strong. Don’t get it twisted, girl. I’m not the type of girl to steal love interests.”

Praxis and Kora stared at each other for a few tense moments. “…then I’ll believe you.” Praxis finally said. “…sorry, I got kind of intense there.” Kora’s face relaxed and she smiled.

“Yeah, me too…but you get what I mean, so, like…it’s all good now, right?” To which Praxis replied with a nod. “Then it’s fine! Let’s just move on because we gotta find out the author of that note!” She put her hands on her hips.

“Of course!” Praxis grinned and turned to leave. With her back turned, Kora let her smile drop. Praxis couldn’t know.

\--

“Odd.” Perceval mulled the sight of Soulcrown Summit which was lacking the monsters he was told were rampaging. “Could the information we were given be fake? Why would one wish to give us false information on something this serious…?”

“Childish pranks, most likely.” Aegaeon lied. Was it lie? Kora could act childish at times… “it seems like this may have a waste of time. A shame, really.” Perceval crossed his arms and looked at Aegaeon. “…is something wrong?”

“No, my friend. I’m simply waiting for you to take out the food that Gorg prepared for us. We could most likely make it back for supper, however, it would be wrong to let the food that was made go to waste. We shall eat here as intended, agreed?”

Aegaeon simply nodded, suppressing the smile that wanted to surface on his face as he set out the food. Kora had added a blanket, which Perceval didn’t seem to question and set it on the ground then placed the food on top of the blanket. The two sat down and began to eat the food. It was obvious that Vess had helped when they saw the dumplings sitting in the basket.

“It was kind of Vess and Gorg to prepare all of this for us. We should thank them once we return.” Perceval said as he bit into the dumpling. Aegaeon murmured an agreement, not quite sure where to begin. Perceval didn’t even see this as a date so how was Aegaeon supposed to act? Maybe he should have asked for conversation starters…

“Do you ever sit and admire the stars?” Aegaeon snapped back into reality with Perceval’s sudden question. The dark blade was staring up to the clear sky through the holes of the Urayan titan’s shell.

“Um…y-yes, when I see them. They’re rather pretty, don’t you think?”

“Of course, but it isn’t the aesthetic pleasure I refer to. No, what I admire is how infinite their numbers are. A limitless number of stars exist yet we only see what a handful is, ratio-wise. Who knows what other stars could exist out there? What they look like, the constellations they form…we can only guess with the limits of our imaginations.”

Aegaeon stared at the night sky and smiled softly. “I do enjoy hearing you speak like that. It picks at the brain and makes me think about the world. You truly speak like a poet.” Perceval shook his head.

“Morag and Bridghid said the same thing at one time, and I said to them, I say to you. I merely speak of what I see. I do not mean for my words to sound cryptic.”

“Poets aren’t always cryptic. They can just say what they are thinking of and inspire people. I feel like you do that more than you ever realise…one thing I have to admire is how your past doesn’t seem to bother you.”

“Oh?” Perceval turned his head from the starry sky to Aegaeon. “Do explain.”

“…I was supposed to be a protector for Emperor Niall, and I failed. He was injured, and I was sent back into my core crystal. If I couldn’t protect my previous driver, how am I expected to protect my current driver? It was foolish of her to let me reawaken in the first place.”

“Nonsense. Morag is not that kind of woman, and that’s something both of us know. She knew of my past as an assassin and it did not change her perception of me. Logically, your past will not change her perception of you. She is one who believes in second chances, so try to live up to those expectations.”

“…right.” Aegaeon wished he could have thought of something more to say than that.

They finished off their food in comfortable silence and looked up at sky again. Aegaeon cleared the plates away so he was able to sit slightly closer to Perceval, but not much closer. “…do you ever feel out of place in Uraya? Knowing you are a blade of Mor Ardain, does it cause you to feel slightly alien?” Perceval asked. Always with the deep questions.

“I suppose you could say I feel out of place…” Which wasn’t a lie. He felt fine on Uraya. It wasn’t location that made him feel different from the rest. “What of you? I’ve noticed you only ever seem to enjoy missions when you get to work alone.”

“That isn’t true. I will grant you that I prefer to work alone, however, I can enjoy working with others depending on the driver or blade. For example, I do not mind working with you. You are a relaxing presence to have around compared to, say…the loud ice blade.” Godfrey, he meant.

“I see. I’m glad to hear it.” Aegaeon shifted his gaze to another part of the sky so Perceval wouldn’t be able to see the blue tints on his face. “…why is it that you prefer working alone?”

“Other people can cause complications if we are not compatible fighters. A certain synergy is necessary when working with others. I cannot form said synergy and as such it causes grief if I try to work in groups. Not to mention my skills allow me to complete most tasks alone anyway. I have no need for support.”

“Though that is not the same as not enjoying the support.”

“You make a good point. Though it goes back to the synergy. I need to be able to get one with the individual.”

“Then we get along?” Aegaeon asked.

“Of course, my friend. I would not have agreed to this mission if I did not get along with you. Not to mention you could have handled a situation like the one in the report all by yourself. Being the talented swordsman that you are.”

It took a moment for Aegaeon to realise. If Perceval thought Aegaeon could handle it on his own, why would he come along? It didn’t seem like Perceval to undermine anyone’s skill…he said they got along…then did Perceval-

“Aegaeon! Perceval!” The train of thought was broken when Agate ran up to them, clearly out of breath. Did she run the whole way here…? “Thank goodness you’re both still here…Aegaeon…it’s…” She seemed hesitant, almost scared to speak.

“Agate? What’s wrong? Is the village in trouble…?” Perceval unsheathed his katana.

“Your journal, Aegaeon…e-everyone knows…” Aegaeon seemed confused for a moment. When he took notice of Agate’s nervous glances towards Perceval, it seemed to click.

“But…how…?”

\--

20 minutes earlier…

Zenobia flicked through the pages of boring entry after boring entry. She’d snuck into Aegaeon’s room and uncovered the journal he kept hidden in hopes of finding proof that he liked Perceval, but all she could find was were entries about the different missions he had been on, or how his sparring sessions went. Nothing incriminating at all.

“Goddammit, nothing at all.” Zenobia growled, slamming the journal on her lap. “I know he likes that son of bitch, so why can’t he write his feelings somewhere where anyone could read about them like a normal blade?!”

“What’s got’cha so worked up, Zenobia?” She raised her head to see Floren skating towards her. “I’ve never seen you so tense since that time you were asked to do an escort mission where no monsters appeared. Have you gone fifteen minutes without hitting your axe against something? Wanna play baseball with my bitball?”

“No, twerp, I don’t.” She turned away from the boy and continued flicking through the pages. Floren peered nosily over her shoulder. “…what?”

“What’cha readin’? Can I read it too?” Floren asked.

“No, I’m dealing with important stuff, so quit annoying me.” Zenobia said. Floren puffed out his cheeks and snatched the journal away. “Hey, give that back!”

“Eh…? Is this Aegaeon’s journal? I’ve seen him writing in it before…why are you reading it?” Floren eyed her suspiciously. “What would Aegaeon think if he found out if you were going through his personal stuff…?” Zenobia gritted her teeth as Floren skimmed over the page. “Not like there’s anything fun in here. Just his sparring sessions and-“ Floren’s eyes widened. “No way…”

“What? What is it?” Zenobia grabbed the journal and read the page. “…’I’ve been feeling strange whenever I spar with Perceval. I used to think it was because he was a worthy opponent, but I am beginning to believe I’…’have feelings for Perceval’!” Zenobia grinned brightly and waved the journal in the air. “I knew it! I knew it! I was totally right!”

Zenobia floated into the air still celebrating loudly. Floren cringed and looked around. “Um…Zenobia, you might wanna keep it down a little…”

“Why the hell would I wanna keep it down?! I was right! Aegaeon wants Perceval’s dick and I was right about it! This is the proof, he wrote it himself! Ahahahahah!” Zenobia hysterical laughter slowly died down when she opened her eyes and saw all the people and blades staring at her with baffled expressions on their faces.

The realisation swept over her. Everyone had heard her. She had just outed Aegaeon to Garfont village. “…oh no.” She dropped the journal and covered her mouth. “No…shit, no…”

Praxis, who was nearby ran over to Agate. “Perceval and Aegaeon are up at Soulcrown Summit. You need to let them know.”

“Wh- me?” Agate stuttered.

“Agate, you’re the best to break the news. You’re the best with sensitive topics. Please, Aegaeon should know before he comes back.” Praxis practically begged her. Agate bit her lower lip and looked over at the panicked Zenobia.

“A…alright then. I’ll be quick.” Agate agreed and ran off.

\--

Agate, Aegaeon, and the still clueless Perceval returned to the village. The eyes all magnetised to Aegaeon. The murmurs were loud enough that he could hear them say his name. Agate put a hand on the water blade’s shoulder to give at least some comfort.

“What is this tension?” Perceval questioned though neither Agate or Aegaeon could answer him. “Aegaeon? Your journal was leaked…was something important contained in there?” Aegaeon’s whole body tensed further, trembling slightly which caught Perceval unexpectedly off guard.

“Aegaeon, it’s okay. Please…” Agate spoke softly.

“Aegaeon!” Zenobia ran to him, the journal clutched in her hands tightly. “…I…” She looked for her words, but they seemed to vanish when she saw the look on Aegaeon’s face. A completely broken and hurt expression filled with betrayal and fear.

“It was you…?” The voice he used made it even worse. His usual smooth voice sounded fragmented and accusing.

“I…I just…I wanted to help and I…”

“You wanted to be right.” Aegaeon corrected, snatching the journal from her grasp. “…well, congrats. You got what you wished for. You got to uncover my secret and you’ve announced it to everyone.”

“Aegaeon, that’s too harsh.” Agate tried to reason. “Zenobia wouldn’t have wanted this-“

“You _**don’t**_ understand!” Everyone within an earshot stopped. Aegaeon’s voice rarely got to forceful and angry. “None of you understand!” A thick silence fell over the crowd who were staring at Aegaeon, waiting to see what he would do next. “…I can’t do it.” He turned and began to walk towards the front gate.

“Where are you going?!” Agate called after him.

“Away. Please…I just wish to remain alone.” Aegaeon lied. He didn’t want to be alone, but what else could he do? He couldn’t face it. He couldn’t face Perceval. Or Bridghid when she found out. He forced himself to keep his eyes forward despite wanting to look back to Perceval at least once, but he continued and left Garfont, not stopping until you couldn’t even see him from the front gate…

“…what have I done…?” Zenobia held her head in her hands. “…I…I’ve ruined him…it’s all my fault…”

Perceval’s brow furrowed, and he turned to Agate, his voice even more forceful than Aegaeon’s moments ago. An almost nightmarish voice came from him as he spoke. **“Agate. Speak of what happened and do not leave out any details.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD I HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR A WHILE I AM SORRY
> 
> I needed a little break but I am back now with a very important chapter for Aegaeon's plotline. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it, let me know if you do with a comment. The comments keep me going, I promise so any criticisms or praises you have, lay 'em on me!

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this chapter in like 2 hours, but don't expect that creativity to come naturally all the time.
> 
> I think this an interesting idea for a fic, so I just went ahead with it. If you guys like the idea let me know and I'll continue on with it. Comment if there are certain characters you want focused on because your comments will be what motivate me the most
> 
> Hope you all enjoy it!


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